By WARREN DILLAWAY - Staff Writer
Firefighters from the southern part of Ashtabula County were busy Wednesday evening and Thursday as three blazes burned three different structures to the ground.
Jefferson firefighters responded to a fire Wednesday at 6:40 p.m., said Jefferson Fire Department Assistant Chief Tom Lachey.
“It was a fully involved barn fire at 1681 Griggs Road in Jefferson Township,” he said. The structure, owned by George Colucci, was destroyed along with thousands of dollars worth of farm equipment, Lachey said.
Lachey said damage estimates were not complete. “It’s going to be up there,” he said of the damage that included an $18,000 portable saw mill, a $75,000 combine and a $55,000 tractor.
“We had tankers from Plymouth, Sheffield and Dorset,” Lachey said. He said someone had been working in the barn and went inside the house.
“Somebody driving by (stopped) and knocked on their door,” he said. Lachey said there isn’t any reason to believe the fire was suspicious and they don’t know what caused the fire.
Nobody was injured during the fire, he said.
A mobile home fire left a Dorset Township resident homeless
Thursday afternoon, owner Shirley Moore was apparently burning something outside when her 35-year-old mobile home caught fire, said Dorset Fire Chief John Sullivan.
“It’s a complete loss. It burned to the ground,” Sullivan said. He said it was like a “tinder box” and it was nearly gone when firefighters arrived on the scene.
In addition to Jefferson firefighters there was mutual aid help from Pierpont and Andover, he said.
The fire call came in at 3:08 p.m. for the fire at 3896 Stanhope Kelloggsville Road, Sullivan said. He said Moore is staying with her son in Jefferson and damage estimates are incomplete.
The final fire was an unoccupied structure in the 7000 block of Gane Road in Wayne Township.
“It was totally engulfed by the time we got there,” said Wayne Township Fire Chief Jeff Thompson. He said the building was a total loss.
Thompson said there were 25 to 30 firefighters on the scene from Wayne, Windsor, Orwell and Andover. He said the call came in around 1:30 a.m. and firefighters were on the scene until 4a.m.
“It is under investigation for arson by the state fire marshal’s office,” Thompson said. He said the home, owned by Ken Coltman, had been unoccupied for quite some time and did not have heat or electricity, which led to the arson investigation.
Thompson said firefighters were on the scene for three hours, and the early estimate of the damage is $25,000. He said the fire investigators will be in town today after completing the investigation of a fatal fire in Farmington in Trumbull County.
